The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing up to $15 million to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to accelerate the delivery of AEMO's Engineering Roadmap to advance operational capacity for renewable generation in the National Electricity Market (NEM). ARENA funding will enable work on:
- Accelerating operational readiness for major power system changes in the next two years - enabling reduced reliance on fossil-fuelled generators to provide system stability support;
- Foundational enablers for the energy transition - including governance frameworks, systems and processes to support increasing consumer uptake of rooftop solar, batteries and electric vehicles; and
- Providing long-range visibility to investors on the emerging requirements of the power system and opportunities for different technologies to meet these requirements.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the project would help pave the way for an energy grid with an increasing share of renewables.
"Transitioning to an electricity system based predominantly on wind, solar and storage presents new challenges that we need to be prepared to manage," Mr Miller said.
"With adequate planning, AEMO can play a key role in managing the transition as seamlessly as possible, while ensuring we get the most out of our renewable assets."
"ARENA is pleased to be working with the market operator to bring forward this important program of work, enabling a grid powered increasingly by renewables."
AEMO CEO Daniel Westerman said the ARENA funding will accelerate the power system's readiness for high renewable operation.
"The Engineering Roadmap seeks to advance operational capability for a high renewable power system, critical as our ageing coal generation fleet retires," Mr Westerman said.
"This will in-turn help make efficient use of available renewable resources, alleviate future system security management challenges, and reduce future reliance on fossil-fuel generation.
"ARENA's grant funding will accelerate this critical work, enabling the deployment of innovative and timely solutions to support our future power system," he said.
The Engineering Roadmap aims to keep the NEM ahead of engineering challenges before they emerge operationally, progressing critical actions that allow secure operation with high renewables.
AEMO data shows that in 2023, the instantaneous penetration of renewables in the NEM hit a new record of 72.1%. As the NEM transitions to a higher share of renewable electricity from inverter-based resources, like wind and solar, the requirements for managing the grid securely and reliably continue to change.
The Engineering Roadmap seeks to prepare for the challenges associated with this transition and ensure that the associated risks are appropriately managed. The funding by ARENA will help AEMO bring forward delivery of this critical program of work, helping to remove barriers to the increasing reliance on renewable electricity.
This project helps to drive ARENA's strategic priority to optimise the electricity transition which aims to move Australia towards a lower-cost, largely renewable electricity system, both on and off the grid, that is able to meet significantly higher domestic and export demand.
